


Rise of a Knight

by RetroArcadeRat



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Im sorry lol im terrible at pacing so this is going to be weird, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6241225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroArcadeRat/pseuds/RetroArcadeRat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You were left for dead by the very boy you idolized for years, but a strange new visitor to your planet just might turn your life around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

You'd always idolized him. Ever since you'd been discovered and brought to the Jedi Temple. You never knew your parents. But honestly? The temple wasn't much better. No one liked you any better than the people you met on the streets. And no one was any nicer. Especially him. 

He was the oldest in your group, although being in the same group didn't mean much. Just that you all had the same classes at the same time. They believed in mixing age groups, for maximum education or something. But even for his age, he was powerful. And you wanted that, because you were the opposite. You were by far the weakest force user in the group, probably in the whole temple, and not even close to the youngest. Barely even strong enough to be trained, pathetic. That was probably why you followed him without question when he turned on them. Jealous of his power and determined to figure out how to make yourself his equal, you followed him blindly as he destroyed the only home you'd ever had. 

What a fool you were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy just a short prologue for a new thing I'm working on so I have some motivation to keep working on it haha. This is written for a male reader but I don't know if it will end up actually mattering? We'll see.


	2. The Stranger

You open your eyes to someone banging a pan against the metal frame of the small makeshift shack, the bright morning light almost blinding you as you sit upright, smacking your head against the bunk above you. You flop back down onto your shirt, which doubles as a pillow, and mumble something to yourself about getting off this dump of a planet, but you know it's not going to happen. You really need to stop thinking about the past. You can't change it now. 

But you can't help it. As you start to get dressed you recall every moment for the millionth time in your head. The joy you felt at leaving, at being a part of something, and the crushing despair you felt when you realized they didn't need you. And worse, they didn't want you. 

You never could decided if it was a blessing or a curse that they'd left you here to rot instead of finishing the job themselves, but either way you weren't thanking them for it. This was your third year on this desolate rock, out in the far reaches of some system you didn't even know the name of, and every day was hell. You had to be everything. A scavenger, a mechanic, a bartender, a cook, a shopkeeper, anything that was needed. Around here there weren't even enough beings for everyone to have just one miserable job. You all had to do it all, and somehow even that wasn't enough. 

Speaking of, you're due at the bar this morning in...three minutes. Fuck. You hurriedly finish pulling your shoes on, running out the door and down the dusty path into town. Glancing up, you can already tell that there's not going to be a single cloud in the sky. It's going to be another long, hot, busy day. 

Or not. Instead it turns out to be a long, hot, sleepy day. You're not entirely sure which is worse. You've only had a single customer enter since you opened at nine and all she wanted was directions to the junkyard. Bright sunlight illuminates the dust floating in the air as you glance at the clock, sighing. Five minutes until you can close for lunch. 

And suddenly someone walks in. You can't really see their face, as it's mostly hidden under a hood, but they move like they're old. Very old. They shuffle over to the counter, but don't bother sitting down. Bad joints or something, you assume. 

"Can I get you anything?" You ask, unsure how to act exactly. You're usually pretty good at reading people but not this one. 

"Do you sell food here?" Their voice is quiet, but somehow you don't have any trouble understanding it. 

"Well, we have smoothies?" You respond, hoping they won't get mad, though you seriously doubt they will. 

Surprisingly though, you hear a low rumbling coming from under the hood and slowly realize that it's laughter. You stand and stare, slightly confused and utterly unsure what to do. Two withered hands reach up, pulling the hood down to reveal a bald head and full white beard, complete with a (mostly) toothless grin. "That'll be close enough."

You nod, promptly turning around to start preparing the drink. The sooner he finishes this and leaves, the sooner you can have lunch. He tosses the credits at you (plus a little extra) as you slide the smoothie across to him. "So uh, you from around here?" You're fully aware the answer is going to be no. The answer's always no.

"Yes, actually." He says simply, sipping lazily at the drink. 

You raise your eyebrow at him, and he just laughs again.

"I was born here. Born and raised. Not on this side though."

"Oh yeah? What's the other side like?" Your eyes keep flitting back and forth between his face and the clock, and you're pretty sure he knows what you're doing but you can't help it. 

"Guess." He says, and you really do try not to sigh. 

"Uh...higher mountains, even more dust...bigger town? I dunno. I've never been."

His amusement is starting to annoy you a little. No one smiles that much on this planet, let alone laughs. "This planet is huge!!! The furthest from the sun perhaps, but big! Bigger than you could imagine! Do you really think the terrain is identical across the whole surface?"

"...no," you lie. Of course you did, why would you stay here if there was somewhere better to go?

He just gives you a knowing look, finishing his smoothie and pushing the glass back over to you. "Where I come from, there's forest as far as the eye can see. And mountains! Huge mountains covered in trees and snow. And rivers and lakes and waterfalls!" He pauses to turn back and look you in the eye. "Life, child. Life!"

You just stare back at him. "Green? On this piece of junk? Yeah, right." You turn away to start cleaning out the glass, but he grabs your shoulder with surprising strength. 

"Hey-"

"You," he says, jabbing at your chest with a skinny finger, "do not belong here."

"Excuse me?"

"This town, this is no place for this." He says, gesturing at you again. You're more or less frozen in place. This has never happened before, and you have no clue what he's talking about. He just continues to talk at you, gesturing wildly and excitedly. "You have had trauma in your past, yes? So have many. And many have succumbed to it. Have given up. But I can feel the hope in your heart. Why is it there? Why? No one ever gets off this planet who stays for more than a day. No one dares have any hope. They have all accepted their fates. So why. Haven't. You?" He punctuates the last words by jabbing at your chest again and you smack his hand away, stepping back and starting to clean the glass. 

"I dunno, better than nothing I suppose." You just want him to leave, you want nothing more than for him to just. Leave you alone. But it's clear to you that's not going to happen. 

"No."

You set the glass down, turning back towards him. "No?"

"No. There's more. You have something. Something driving you. There's an electric storm in your heart. That does not come from 'better than nothing', that comes from something much more. So what is it?"

You're silent for once, trying to think. He was wrong, wasn't he? He had to be, you don't even know the guy. But the more you think about it, the more he starts the make sense, though you can't put your finger on why. 

"You don't have to tell me." He says, more gently this time. "Hell, you don't even know me, right?" The grin returns full force. "But just know this: you do not belong here. This is not where your story ends." And with that he's gone, door swinging shut and leaving you in the still, silent bar. You blink, trying to clear your head. What the hell had that been about? You absentmindedly pick up a rag to wipe down the counter, but when you look down you notice something. It looks like some sort of ball a kid would play with, but there are markings all over it. And at the very top, a helpful circle with 'you are here' written in it next to a small compass rose. And about halfway to the other side of the planet (because yes, you're sure this is your planet), to the Northeast, is one simple word. 

Freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this :) let me know what you think!


	3. Field Trip

You didn't bother waiting around until you could talk yourself out of it. You left the second you could scrape some supplies together and slip out from under the watchful gaze of the city leaders. After you came across a bit of luck and stole someone's mutt of a land cruiser, the terrifying journey to a new land become more of an exploratory field trip. 

On the second day, the terrain started to change. Instead of barren rock, it was sand. The next day brought with it an expanse of scrubland, through which flowed a multitude of small rivers. And finally, on the fifth day, at around noon, you see it. The forest. 

To be quite honest, you can't believe your eyes. It wasn't that you didn't believe him but...well, you didn't really believe him. Although you must have believed him at least a little bit to venture all the way out here. You let out an exhilarated yell, stopping the cruiser just short of the first tree and jumping out, staring up at it with a painfully wide smile stretched across your face. This is it. This is your way out. You aren't sure how, but you can feel it. This is right. 

You have lunch by the tree, deciding to let yourself be a little ridiculous and give it a big hug before venturing deeper into the forest, reluctantly leaving the cruiser behind, hidden in some bushes. 

After a few hours of exploring you decide that this is indeed a rather large forest. However, you did manage to find a river, and you set up camp there, preparing a small dinner. A glance at the sky tells you that you don't have enough time to search for more food today, but you're pretty sure there's plenty to be found here. Instead, you opt for an early evening, and promptly pass the fuck out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this ones so short lol it just seemed like the right place to cut it off so here we are


	4. Alive

The first few days are, well, boring. And lonely. There isn't a whole lot to do, but plenty of food and water. On the sixth day, however, you're sitting around camp at lunch twirling a stick between your fingers when a middle aged man drops down from the trees in front of you. Great. 

"You're doing it wrong." He says, face strangely expressionless. 

You look at him. "Doing what wrong?"

He points to your hand. "That."

You hold up the stick, confused. "I don't- I was just messing with it, I wasn't doing anything."

"Well, you were. You can never be doing nothing."

You roll your eyes. "Okay well, I wasn't doing anything specific."

"You were. And you were doing it wrong."

"Alright well, let's just agree to disagree." You mumble, turning back towards the currently empty fire pit you'd built and hoping he'd just leave. No such luck of course. 

"I can teach you."

You silently promise yourself you're going to ignore him, before promptly replying. "Teach me what?"

"To fight." You actually perk up at that, the panicky annoyed buzzing in your mind fading to silence as you look up at him. 

"I'm not good at fighting. My childhood proved that much." 

"What was your weapon of choice?" He sits down opposite you, face finally shifting from unreadable to slightly curious, yet unconcerned. 

"Well, the only weapons available were lightsabers, so-"

"You've never fought with anything else?" he interrupts, raising an eyebrow. 

"Well, no." For some reason you can't bring yourself to be annoyed at this guy. You're starting to get the feeling he might actually be able to help you. 

He gives you a small smile before standing. You think it's genuine but it looks suspiciously sly. "Well, the way I see it you don't have a whole lot of options. You could stay here and live alone for the rest of your days, go back where you came, or come with me."

You look around you. He does have a fair point. You're not going to accomplish much sitting around here, and...well, you want to find Kylo. You know you should be mad at him, at all of them, for leaving you, but you just can't. You understand, you would've just gotten in their way. But maybe...maybe with the proper training, the right weapon, you can prove to them that you're not useless at all. Making up your mind, you stand and nod. "Yeah, alright. Teach me."

-

The trek through the forest is a long one, as well as a silent one. But you have plenty to think about. Now that the thought of Kylo has fully reentered your mind, it doesn't seem keen on leaving, so you suppose you're stuck. Could this be what the other guy was talking about? Was Kylo of all people what had kept you from giving up hope for so long? Couldn't be...right? 

You ponder the question for longer than you bother to keep track of, and haven't even come close to reaching a conclusion when you reach the edge of the forest. Past the trees is...more rocks. 

You sigh, turning to the man (whos name you just realized you forgot to ask). "Seriously?"

He grins. "Do you want to learn to fight or not?"

He has a fair point. You choose to stay silent and survey your surroundings. The grass turns into rock, which turns into sand, and then water. You think it's a lake, but as far as you can tell it could be an ocean. It's surrounded almost completely by rocky cliffs and caves. You shrug to yourself, figuring water and caves is better than just flatland. 

"Tomorrow, we begin your training."

-

The days are long, and they just get longer, but it's alright because you've found your calling. You've never had such natural talent with something as you have with a staff. The old man (he told you his name but you've just kept calling him that) spent the first day handing you various weapons to see what you'd do with them, and apparently staff was just the right one. 

After that, it was just a matter of putting your talent to work. For three years, he taught you everything he knew. For three years, you put all of your energy into mastering a single weapon, taking rare trips off the planet to get upgrades. And at the end of the third year, the old man disappeared. 

And you finally escaped. 

Every new planet was wonderful compared to what you'd left behind. You worked as a mercenary, an assassin, a body guard. Whatever helped. You trained, you gathered leads, you waited. And after three more years, you were finally ready. Climbing out of the X-Wing you'd stolen and facing a group of figures in black, you grin. 

"Remember me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember what I said about pacing? Yeah. Well, I figured I probably shouldn't wait much longer before bringing Kylo in so this is a little rushed but. Oh well.


	5. Reunion

They stare. They don't remember you, how could they? It's been nine years, you've all grown. You hold your staff beside you as you step closer. 

"It's been awhile. But you think you'd recognize someone you left on a shit planet nine years ago," you comment idly. You wish you could see their faces right now, they're probably priceless. "Well? Say something."

Finally, one steps forward. Seems to be the leader, probably Kylo. "What do you want? You're outnumbered, you won't kill us."

"Oh, I don't want to kill you. I want to join you."

There's complete silence. All you can hear is the wind. They seem to be stunned and you might be enjoying this a little too much. You tilt your head to the side, waiting for an answer. Finally, Probably Kylo speaks up again. 

"Join...us?" he asks, the gravelly tone his mask changes his voice to almost making you laugh. After a few more moments of silence he seems to finally recover and straighten a bit. "Alright. I'll make you a deal. You defeat the weakest knight in a duel and you can join." You can tell he doesn't believe for a second you'll be able to do it but you just nod. He gestures to the knight standing furthest to your left and they step forward, hefting a massive...club maybe? You're not entirely sure what it should be classified as. 

Club Knight swings their weapon at you and you duck, sweeping their feet out from under them with your staff before straightening up and holding one of the proton blade ends of your staff to their neck. Easy. They drop their weapon, nodding in acknowledgement of their defeat, and you step back, silently raising an eyebrow at Probably Kylo. There's silence, and for a second you wonder if he's just going to kill you anyway, but then you hear a sigh, sounding strange through the helmet, and he lowers his head slightly. 

"As much as I hate to admit it, we may have been wrong to leave you behind. Even surviving this long shows that. We'll give you a chance."

You just grin at them, twirling your staff around idly. "Thanks. You won't be disappointed." Okay so maybe you're showing off a bit, but you've been waiting for this for a long, long time. 

Probably Kylo nods again, before pointing at the X-Wing. "You won't be needing that. Follow us."

-

Theyre surprisingly quick to adopt you into their group. It's a small one, but a close one. You're also quick to regain your old feelings towards Kylo. He had become exponentially more powerful since you'd last seen him. Amazingly strong in the force and a skilled fighter, you can't help but continue to look up to him. 

However, that doesn't last long. Within the first month, you realize something. 

Kylo is a fucking dick. 

The amount of times you're infinitely glad your helmet hides any signs of secondhand embarrassment is astonishing. The way he talks to other living beings makes you cringe - and the other knights seem to feel the same. You quickly realize that Kylo is not really a part of the knights. He may be the leader but that doesn't seem to mean much. To him, at least. 

The days get long and you begin to wonder what you're doing here. You're sure it's right but...why? The thought doesn't want to let you sleep and you sit up, groaning as you see what time it is. You shake your head, deciding you'll sleep tomorrow night, and pull your clothes on, leaving your room and starting to aimlessly wander the corridors. You find yourself on the observation deck, staring out at the stars. 

"What am I doing here?" You wonder out loud, pressing your forehead against the cold, thick glass. You're expecting a silent reply from the universe. Instead, you get a "how should I know?" You glance to the side, just now noticing a dark figure in the corner of the room. "Why the hell do we all wear black?" you mutter to yourself, shaking your head. As the figure stands and strides towards you, you realize it's Kylo, and the universe suddenly seems to have answered you after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy sorry it's been so long and also sorry this is terrible I really need to work on my writing ahhh


End file.
